New Delhi: Australian captain Meg Lanning turned 31 today as she celebrates her birthday in India, just before playing the finals of the inaugural WPL on March 26. While she recently became the most successful captain in the history of the game, in terms of the number of ICC trophies, Lanning holds many other astounding records as well.
In her 13-year career, she has become the backbone of the Australian women’s cricket team and the face of the game. Here are 5 records held by Meg Lanning in international cricket:
1. Most successful captain in the history of the game
????? ICC Women’s T20 World Cup
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? Commonwealth Games gold medalHappy birthday Meg Lanning ? pic.twitter.com/evJVd9jrvw
— ICC (@ICC) March 25, 2023
With the T20 World Cup victory this year, Meg Lanning has a total of seven ICC trophies, out of which five are as a captain. She left behind former Australian men’s team skipper Ricky Ponting in the tally. Apart from that she also led Australia to the Commonwealth Games gold medal win in Birmingham last year.
2. Most ODI hundreds
Meg Lanning holds 15 ODI tons to her name, which is more than any woman cricketer playing the game. She and New Zealand’s former player Suzie Bates are the only players having ODI centuries in double figures. She holds 15 ODI centuries and 21 fifties in 102 innings.
3. Highest T20I score as captain
Back in 2019, against England, Meg Lanning played an inning of 133* off 63 balls, hitting 17 fours and 7 sixes. With this, she made the highest-ever T20I score as a captain and led her team to a total of 226. After a top order collapse, England could only managed 133 runs in 20 overs. Even the second highest T20I score as a captain is also held by Lanning, when she scored 126 against Ireland.
4. 2nd in most T20I runs
Lanning has a total of 3405 runs in 121 T20I innings and is behind Suzie Bates, who had scored 3820 runs in 140 innings. The Australian batter has scored at an average of 36.61 and with a strike rate of 116.37.
5. Most T20I games as captain
Meg Lanning has led Australia in 100 T20Is and has become the player to captain a side in most number of T20Is. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur is just behind her with 96 games. Meanwhile, in men’s cricket, the record is held by Aaron Finch, who has led Australia in 76 games.
Out of the 100 games, she has won 76 and lsot only 18 T20Is, with a mindblowing win percentage of 80.52.
Bonus: Meg Lanning broke the internet
Want to hear about the time Meg Lanning broke the internet ?
Our skipper and Alice Capsey share their views on that ICONIC moment ?#YehHaiNayiDilli #SRK pic.twitter.com/KIBnRaTFP7
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 22, 2023
While playing for the Delhi Capitals, Lanning broke the internet by posing like Shah Rukh Khan. For a social media video, she was made to pose like King Khan, while she did not know about it. The video and pictures of her doing Shah Rukh’s iconic pose with the arms went viral on social media.
